Teachers and staff at a building that houses two Montgomery County, Maryland, schools 鈥� which cater to students with additional needs 鈥� claim the school system is not doing enough to ensure students and staff have both a healthy and safe place to learn.
One half of the Blair G. Ewing Center on Avery Road in Rockville has been home to one alternative learning school known by staff as 鈥淎very Road.鈥� The school is one of three that serves students who have behavioral issues or other learning difficulties that require they be removed from their prior public school.
At the beginning of this school year, a second school, known as “Cloverleaf” in Germantown, relocated to the vacant side of the Blair Ewing facility. Two staff members who spoke with 草莓传媒 said they arrived to find mold and even warnings about asbestos.
鈥淲hen we first came in, we had visible mold on ceiling tiles and walls and floors. We had leaks in some of the bathrooms that dripped and flowed down the wall when it rains,鈥� said one teacher 草莓传媒 will refer to as “Teacher A.”
Out of concern of retribution for speaking publicly, staffers who spoke to 草莓传媒 would only do so if they could remain anonymous.
鈥淲e had a bad smell around the classrooms as well. And then we found out later that we had asbestos there,鈥� a second teacher, who 草莓传媒 will refer to as “Teacher B,” claimed.
In videos and photos provided to 草莓传媒, there was visible discoloration on the walls and ceiling tiles. Near the tiles, some of which appeared to be crumbling, were yellow stickers warning of asbestos.
鈥淚n the cafeteria, where students and many staff eat every day, that also has positive asbestos tiles, and a lot of them are broken or falling, so there is exposed asbestos in the cafeteria where people are eating,鈥� Teacher A said.
The teachers said they have seen some work done, but a lot of the concerning conditions remain halfway through the school year.
鈥淓very day, I’ve seen even the students sneezing a lot and having a lot of coughing, and they’re saying that, definitely, since they moved to this new building, that they feel that they’ve been more sick than before,鈥� Teacher B said.
A third staff member echoed their colleagues’ concerns and said the environmental issues are what worries them the most.
But mold and asbestos are only part of the problems at the building.
Violence between rival schools
While the two schools, Cloverleaf and Avery Road, are physically separated by an unlocked door, staffers who spoke to 草莓传媒 said one security guard is responsible for keeping students from both schools apart and intervening when fights break out.
鈥淭he security guard we have is great, does a good job, but it’s only one person, and the fight is usually between two people, so it requires at least two people to break it up,鈥� Teacher A said.
Physically separating the two schools, which serves roughly 60 students in all, is a measure taken by Montgomery County Public Schools, according to the staff members, because there have been fights based solely on the school a student attends.
The teachers cited one such fight in November, during which a Cloverleaf student was beaten up for mistakenly showing up on the Avery Road side of the building. According to Teacher B, they鈥檝e witnessed students approaching the door that separates the two schools, and taunting students in the rival school.
鈥淚’ve seen students trying to come in just to see what we have and who’s there looking for a fight,鈥� Teacher B said.
While the staffers said they have a very capable security guard, they believe more security needs to be in place due to what’s happening in the building.
鈥淚f staff are out, or if we don’t have enough security, then the risk is a lot higher,鈥� Teacher A said.
The violence has also left faculty badly hurt, according to those who work in the building. In September, the staff members say two administrators were hurt while intervening in a situation involving a student, and both were out for a long period due to their injuries.
The Montgomery County Police Department confirmed it has responded to the school for a report of assault, and on Nov. 20 for a fight between juveniles. No arrests were made in either case.
According to MCPS rules, staff are allowed to intervene in fighting among students, but with the complicated backgrounds of some students in the building, the teachers said there is a high risk that they will be hurt doing so.
鈥淚t discourages a lot of teachers from wanting to intervene too, because they see what happens and they don’t want to get injured,” Teacher A said.
The two teachers who spoke to 草莓传媒 are calling for immediate improvements at the facility, and for the school system to reconsider the decision of combining the two schools. That decision, staffers said, not only exacerbated safety issues, but also forced students who live up county to commute more than an hour to class each day.
鈥淚t’s costing them their success,鈥� Teacher B said.
They said they believe conditions at the facility wouldn鈥檛 be tolerated at other schools in the county, but because many students there have parents who are not involved in their education, the school system is not being pressed to address the issues.
The staffers who spoke to 草莓传媒 in late December said while it has been difficult to work in the poor conditions, they said the students are what keep them going and have them speaking up.
鈥淲e adore the kids because they’re trying,鈥� Teacher B said.
School system ‘acknowledges the challenges’
When reached for comment, Montgomery County Public Schools said it’s aware of the environmental concerns in the building.
鈥淲e acknowledge the challenges presented by the current facilities and are taking steps to address them,鈥� MCPS spokesperson Liliana L贸pez said in an email to 草莓传媒.
The decision to bring the Germantown and Rockville programs together into one building, L贸pez said, was a result of budget constraints.
L贸pez said all schools have real-time indoor air quality sensors and that the school system’s asbestos abatement team conducts inspections every six months.
鈥淚f the material is in poor condition, remediation is scheduled,鈥� she said.
L贸pez said increased funding is being sought in the 2026 operating budget and the 鈥渃enter’s location is being considered for potential improvements within the upcoming Capital Improvement Plan.”
While acknowledging the school does have one security guard on duty, L贸pez said the school system is requesting funding for security enhancements, which she said includes more security staff.
L贸pez also said the facility receives central office support, specifically from the school system鈥檚 Office of Wellbeing and Student Services. She also said the staff at the school has had opportunities to meet with MCPS leadership, share their concerns and that, 鈥渢he central office team has been actively listening and addressing these issues.鈥�
A call for an ‘immediate assessment’ of the facility
Montgomery County Council Vice President Will Jawando said the conditions being reported by teachers are concerning.
鈥淚 think the folks that came forward to speak out, it was heroic of them, and I’m glad they did it,鈥� Jawando said.
He said the conditions they described and captured in pictures and videos are troubling.
鈥淭he conditions that you’ve shared and shown in pictures, and that teachers have attested to, is really concerning, and it requires an all-hands-on-deck response to address it,鈥� Jawando said.
When it comes to environmental concerns, he said that while he understands last year’s budget cuts may have led to the decision to place both schools in the same location, it does appear the school system was not prepared.
鈥淣o one should have to take their health and safety into their hands in being in one of our buildings. That’s just never acceptable,鈥� Jawando said.
He said he has asked the school system for an immediate assessment of the Blair Ewing Center.
While Jawando said he understands there may be cases in which repairs are done while people are still inside the building, he wants to know more about the timeline for remediation work, whether professionals have determined if the building is safe for those inside, and if something can be done in the interim, if necessary.
鈥淭hose are some of the questions I have that I don’t have answers to yet, but I understand why the staff would ask that, and it seems like a totally rational question,鈥� Jawando said.
When it comes to concerns regarding violence, Jawando said those are also troubling.
鈥淚n a place like Blair Ewing where students are dealing with behavioral issues, it’s, to me, not acceptable to just have one security guard there,鈥� Jawando said.
He said the school system needs more security guards, but he said even attracting them to the position has been difficult, since starting pay for the job is under $40,000 a year.
鈥淭hat’s poverty wages, and it’s unacceptable,鈥� he said.
Jawando acknowledged the superintendent鈥檚 budget calls for more security guards, and he said adding guards and making sure they’re adequately paid needs to be a top priority.
Many schools in the county house students with behavioral challenges who Jawando said could benefit from alternative learning programs, but there currently isn’t space for them, which makes it even more concerning that the facilities that are in place don鈥檛 appear to be well maintained.
Jawando also spoke to concerns about housing two programs in one building, which one teacher claimed forces some up county students to commute more than an hour to get to class.
鈥淭he budget and infrastructure could be actually moving us in the wrong direction and trying to save money,” Jawando said. “It is something that we’re going to look into, for sure.”
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